The Question
by ShellSueD
Summary: Ranger has a question he wants Stephanie to answer but he keeps getting distracted before he can ask it. One Shot - smut warning


_So this is what happens to my brain at night when I have insomnia, it gets filled with smut!_

_As always, only JE owns these characters. I only use them for fun  
_

_I hope you enjoy what transpired from my brain at 3:30 this morning._

* * *

**The Question**

I knew I should have asked.

When she arrived at my door unannounced at two in the morning, I should have asked.

But when I offered to take her coat and she handed it over and then was standing there in nothing but a pair of four inch stiletto heels, I was lucky I could talk, let alone ask what I should have asked.

Actually, now that I think about it, talking wasn't something I could have managed either. I might have mumbled a strangled "Babe" before my mouth was on hers and my hands were everywhere else.

When she began peeling off my clothes while guiding me surreptitiously to the bedroom, I was incapable of any coherent thought beyond relieving the throbbing ache between my legs.

After she pushed me down on my own bed, crawled up my body and took me inside her mouth, I didn't even remember that I had been thinking about a question.

Later, when she was on her back and the heels she hadn't removed were digging into my hips and she was whispering in my ear all the things she wanted me to do to her as I thrust in as far as I could go, I was having trouble remembering my own name.

Three short hours after she had arrived, when my alarm went off signaling the start of my day and she reached across me to turn it off, I should have asked.

Instead, I dragged my thoroughly spent body out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom.

Normally I would go running or hit the gym before showering but I was barely able to walk let alone endure that kind of physical activity. I was pretty sure the work out in my bed had burned enough calories anyway.

When the hot water hit my skin and the steam began to clear my muddled brain I decided I would ask her when I got out of the shower. I mean, that would be the decent thing to do, right? I was debating the wisdom of that thought when the glass door behind me opened and she stepped inside the shower with me.

Before she joined me, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to have an erection for at least another day or two, but when her mouth grazed the back of my neck and her tongue burned a trail down the center of my spine, I was instantly hard. I spun around, grabbed her thighs just below the curve of her ass and lifted her up my body as I pressed her back into the tiled shower wall.

I entered her quickly as her arms wrapped around my neck and her legs wrapped around my waist, her ankles linking together for added support. I slid in and out of her while the water poured over us and the whole bathroom filled with steam.

Her teeth sunk into my neck when she came - leaving a mark - and when I cried her name a second later, that question didn't seem to matter at all.

* * *

She called my cell a little after eleven and said she wanted to see me. I should have asked then, but I hung up with the promise to arrive in twenty minutes or less.

I reached her apartment complex in just under fifteen and the question was on my tongue again. I took the stairs two at a time with a resolve to ask her as soon as she opened the door.

For some reason, I knocked. I don't know why - I don't think I've ever knocked before - but she didn't answer so I let myself in, per usual.

Rex was spinning on his wheel but she was nowhere to be seen. I made my way down the hallway, following the faint glow of light emanating from her bedroom. I was going to ask her immediately so I wouldn't get distracted but when I got to the doorway and saw what was waiting for me inside her room, I couldn't remember what I was going to say.

She was naked and lounging in the middle of her bed. Her hair was damp from a recent shower and the whole room smelled faintly of her coconut scented shampoo.

Her legs were spread and my eyes were drawn to the first two fingers of her right hand. They were busy drawing circles around her soft pink nub and when one finger slipped down and slid inside her core, I almost came right there in the doorway.

"I started without you," she said and not wanting to be left behind, I stripped off my clothes like they were on fire and let my tongue take over for her nimble fingers.

Her hands speared into my hair applying slight pressure to my scalp as she held my head in place. I worked my magic until I felt her begin to shudder beneath me and then her fingers were clenchin my head and she was dragging me up her body until my mouth reached hers. She thrust her tongue inside and then suddenly flipped me on my back with a strength I didn't know she possessed.

Before I could even be shocked, she was straddled over me and impaling herself on my hard length.

We both came on the second stoke and she collapsed onto my chest. I wrapped my arms around her when she lifted off me and settled into my side. I drifted off to sleep with the thought that maybe I didn't want to know the answer to the stupid question anyway.

* * *

There was a message on my voice mail saying to meet her at the park at one o'clock. I knew the park would be closed and very dark that time of the night so I was pretty sure we weren't meeting there for a picnic.

I should have called and asked her before I left, but I think it's been well established by now that I was having a hard time getting that accomplished. I was starting to think she was doing this on purpose just so I wouldn't ask, but what did I know? Nothing, _obviously_.

I parked out of sight from the main road and began to trek around the jogging path. I had a pretty good idea we were going to be naked in a short period of time so I was guessing the far side of the lake that was shrouded with a crop of low hanging willow trees was where I would find her.

Sure enough, there she was when I rounded the corner. She had her back to me and a light breeze blew her hair up and slightly off her shoulders. She was wearing a long, black leather coat that nearly touched the ground at her feet. I thought it must be new because I'd never seen her wear it before. I also thought she was probably naked under that coat.

I came up behind her and twirled a small section of her hair around my finger. It was soft as silk and I knew if I buried my nose in it, it would smell like coconuts. Why was the scent of coconuts so intoxicating?

She whipped around suddenly, crushing herself against the length of my body. I felt myself harden inside my cargo pants when she seared her lips to mine. The kiss was urgent and demanding. She thrust her tongue into my mouth and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her even closer.

She broke the kiss, whispered, "I want you," against my lips and began removing my jacket. I shrugged out of it and let it fall to the ground. Yep, don't really give a shit about the question anymore.

She grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and ripped it up and off my body. She dropped it down on top of my coat. I was glad I'd left my gun in the truck. Grabbing my hand she began pulling me out toward the water. I followed her without resistance because why on earth would I protest?

I saw something white in the grass near the lapping water of the lake and realized it was a blanket. I was pretty sure it wasn't a picnic blanket. She stopped at the edge of it and drew me into her. She kissed a path of fire from my lips down my neck and nipped at a one of my distended nipples. I sucked in a breath at the sensation and she took a step back from me and met my eyes. A small smile tilted the corners of her lips and I almost told her to stop copying my moves.

Her fingers played with the sash holding her coat together and I placed my hand over hers, halting the movement. She gave me a full smile and let me tug at the loosely tied knot. My eyes never left hers as I pulled the restraint free and the coat fell open. I slipped his my hands inside and was not surprised when they cupped bare breasts. I knew she was naked under there. It's becoming a habit with her. A habit I fully support, by the way.

I wordlessly slipped the coat off her shoulders and it slid down the length of her body. I let my eyes travel with it, taking in every inch of her naked flesh. She was bare from head almost to toe.

Her feet were covered with black cowboy boots. It was the sexiest damn thing I'd ever seen.

Her fingers reached out to the waistband of my pants and deftly popped the button. The sound of the zipper descending was loud in the stillness of the night. She used both hands to push them down my legs and I could see her smile when she discovered I was going commando. My erection sprang free from the pants and she followed them down until she was kneeling in front of me.

She looked up at me with that little smile again before she sheathed me inside her warm, moist mouth. I inhaled sharply and instinctively buried my hands in the dark mass of her hair, urging her into a rhythm. Her strokes were long and deep and I was about to come in her mouth when she pulled away. I whimpered, actually _whimpered_ at the loss.

She'd driven me to the point of maddening need and I wanted nothing more than to be buried deep inside her for the rest of time. I could not care less if she answered any question ever again.

She undid the laces of my boots and I let her remove them and then stepped out of the pants that she'd pulled down to my ankles. She tugged on my hand and I kneeled down on the blanket behind her. She leaned into me, her back flush with my front and snaked her arms up backward around my neck.

I ran my fingers up and down her sides, caressing her. She shivered at the squirmed against me, silently begging me to touch her in other places so I covered one perfect breast and then the other. A moan sounded deep in her throat when my thumbs brushed over her nipples.

My erection was pressing hard into her back and I shifted slightly to ease the pressure. She released her hold on my neck and leaned forward on the blanket until her elbows rested upon it in an undeniable invitation. I did not need to be asked twice.

She was ready for me; I could see her glistening wet with desire. I grabbed her hips firmly and thrust into her from behind with one powerful stroke. I moved deep within her and she cried out for more. Deeper, harder, faster.

She screamed in ecstasy as I brought us both over the edge. I chanted her name while I spilled myself inside her tight walls. I was completely spent and collapsed over her back making us both fall onto the blanket completely. I rolled us over and she curled up into my side. I held her close, stroking the soft skin of her arms.

"Are you ever going to ask me?" she said after we were both breathing normally again. I laughed because she had made me forgot about it again.

"I don't care anymore," I told her.

"Liar," she said and I felt her smile into my chest.

"Did _he_ ask?"

She sat up so she could look at me. "He didn't have to. He already knew I chose you. It was always you, Ranger."

Joe Morelli and I had gotten together and had an authentic adult conversation about the woman we were both in love with. We managed to get through the whole thing without a punch being thrown, which was pretty amazing since I wanted to kill him the entire time. Actually, I wanted to kill him every time I thought about his hands being on her, but I digress. We decided it was out of our control and we were going to have to let her choose.

"You knew too," she said blue eyes assessing me in the moonlight.

"I_ hoped_," I clarified and she kissed me.

Okay, I knew. I wish I could feel bad for Morelli, but that was never going to happen.

"Ranger?"

"Hmmm?"

"Take me home."

And I did. To _our _home.


End file.
